France braces for massive anti-far-right protests this weekend

France is gearing up for massive protests, this time with a political basis. Authorities expect up to half a million people on the streets. On Friday, several people were injured in Lyon.

Approximately 200 demonstrations against the far-right will occur in France over the weekend, most of them on Saturday. Trade unions, social organizations, and an alliance formed by left-wing parties called the Popular Front have called for the protests.

Demonstrations started in the morning on Saturday in Toulon and Bayonne, among other places in southern and southwestern France. The police expect 50,000 to 100,000 people to protest in Paris and several hundred thousand nationwide. A mobilization of about 21,000 police officers and gendarmes has been announced.

About a hundred associations and trade unions wrote an open letter in the Saturday issue of Le Monde calling for "civic mobilization" in the elections, given the risk of the far right coming to power.

The size of the planned protests may indicate support for the newly formed alliance of left-wing parties, which presents itself as the only alternative to a far-right electoral victory. Before the parliamentary elections on June 30th, the National Rally (RN), the former National Front of Marine Le Pen, is leading in the polls.

Several thousand participants demonstrated on Friday evening in Montpellier in southern France, and about 3,500 in Lyon, where four people were injured, including three police officers.